Bloomberg: Gemini 4 is a very large model, and may be affected by "benchmaxxing"
Bloomberg sources say Gemini 4 is very large and costly to run, and two people familiar with it say it may be shaped by an industry focus on benchmarks; Google says it is limited to trusted testers and will first go to paid API customers and AI Ultra subscribers.
Bloomberg: "Moreover, it’s a very large model, according to a person familiar with its development. Typically big models are expensive to run, potentially putting pressure on Google’s margins." "Experts say Google could be suffering from an industry tendency to focus on benchmarks — a phenomenon known as “benchmaxxing" .. Gemini 4 appears to be affected by this process, said two people familiar with the model." Google: "We’re grateful for the initial cohort of cyber defenders and trusted testers whose real-world evaluations and feedback will help us strengthen our systems before we release to developers, enterprises, and consumers, starting with paid API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers." Reality is Gemini 4 model isn't out. "trusted testers" is the tell. And when it first comes out, it will be on the expensive plans.
This post quotes another post: “Bloomberg: Google staff doubt Gemini 4's coding ability despite strong benchmarks”